Do you have enough time to read as much as you’d like?

Never enough! One life, but so many books to read...

Is there a book that changed how you lead your life?

The Divân by the great Iranian poet Hafez. But it’s not just me: every year in the Persian New Year, we open a page at random and read the poem that will set the tone for the events of the next twelve months. It’s like horoscope poetry!

What’s the most liberating book you’ve ever read? (feelings of joy, frivolity, emancipation, etc.)

Perhaps Promise at Dawn by Romain Gary, the first book I was given in France. I carried it around in my bag for months without reading it, with this photo of the author in uniform on the cover. It was my gateway to France: the first book of my second life.

What is the most challenging book you’ve ever read? (for any reason: a personal resonance, a book that is difficult or realistic…)

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I literally cried my eyes out over this book, which is so close to what still upsets me today.

"Every year in the Persian New Year, we open a page at random and read the poem that will set the tone for the events of the next twelve months. It’s like horoscope poetry!"

Which fictional heroine would you like to be?

Claudine, Colette’s literary double, mischievous and free!

What is the best place to read?

The train! When it breaks down in the tunnel, or there’s a strike in the middle of the countryside, or there’s no signal, and suddenly you’ve got hours ahead to really dive into a good book!

Are you more romance novel or adventure novel?

It’s like a game of truth or dare! Adventure, I’d say... even though love can be an adventure too.

Do you prefer long novels or short stories?

Short stories. Out of necessity, I’m afraid.

Which book would you most like to see adapted into film?

That’s hard… but Borges’ novella The Circular Ruins, where you no longer know who’s dreaming or who’s in someone else’s dream...

A book you always offer as a gift.

This sublime graphic novel by the Australian cartoonist Shaun Tan, The Arrival, the most beautiful book about exile I’ve ever read...

Bibliographic
record

Hâfez from Chirâz, The Divân

Romain Gary, Promise at Dawn Translated by Andrew Hurle, Penguin Books,

Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

Jorge Luis Borges, The Circular Ruins

Shaun Tan, The Arrival